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The Japanese city being hailed as a hidden vegan gem to rival California
With its Pacific views and vegan food, it’s little wonder Kamakura is going from ‘mini Kyoto’ to a more Californian vibe. Nicola Trup checks it out
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Your support makes all the difference.The waves are dotted with surfers as a group of wetsuit-clad dudes with boards heads down to join them. Glam women in big sunglasses walk their tiny dogs past cyclists locking up bikes on the beachfront. The sun’s beaming down and I'm sipping a smoothie on the sand, completing this most Californian of scenes.
But this isn’t Malibu or Venice Beach. It's actually pretty much straight across the Pacific from there – in Kamakura, Japan. To the west, Mt Fuji's snowy top is peeking out above the buildings that line the curve of the bay. The birds circling overhead aren't seagulls, but kestrels.
I decided to interrupt my trip to Tokyo to come here after a Japanese friend told me it's like “a mini Kyoto”. With no time to make the almost 300-mile journey from Japan's capital to the temples and onsen of its predecessor, Kamakura – less than an hour away by train – sounded like a good substitute.
A city roughly the size of Cambridge, Kamakura attracts backpackers with its laid-back vibe and surf scene, and daytrippers with sights like the Daibutsu (a giant bronze Buddha) and the so-called Five Great Zen Temples. At peak times – weekends and Japanese holidays – you'll find yourself jostling with coach-loads of temple-hopping tourists, in which case the best option is to pop into Kencho-Ji (the city's most important temple, with beautifully preserved shrines and wooden gates) before retreating to the beach.
Despite Kamakura's very traditional attractions, it certainly isn't stuck in the past, as the surfers will attest. It's not even stuck in Japan, for that matter. A walk around the low-rise town – a stark contrast to vertiginous Tokyo – throws up such US staples as food trucks, and a pilates and yoga studio that also offers “natural foods”. There are congested areas, where visitors walk between souvenir shops, design boutiques and cafes selling green tea ice cream. But turn off on to the side streets and you'll find sleepy residential districts, with pretty white villa-style houses, some converted into stylish neighbourhood restaurants.
After elbowing my way through the crowds to admire the 11.4-metre high Daibutsu, I meander through the quiet streets, along a picturesque canal and across the railway track served by trains from Tokyo. The weather is glorious, but it's only just spring and there's a chill in the air as I settle down on to the sand at Yuigahama beach. The waves here are somewhat unreliable; today, the offering is rather gentle, but a clutch of surfers and windsurfers power on regardless, taking what they can get.
While the West Coast vibe may be incidental in places, elsewhere it's a little more intentional. As I leave the beach, I spot Seedless, a local landmark that bills itself as a “California-style” bar and restaurant. Inside, the décor is part beach hut, part Americana shrine, with vintage Pepsi and Miller beer signs hanging alongside a huge Rocky and Bullwinkle cutout. The menu, meanwhile, encompasses burgers, pizzas and Tex-Mex, along with one local addition – a “Japanese-style salad” with seafood, including baby sardines.
Seedless is unusual in its culinary offerings. Clean eating has well and truly arrived in Kamakura, and there’s a seemingly endless supply of organic and vegan outlets – from Magokoro with its ocean views and hemp-heavy menu (hemp curry, anyone?) to Sasuke, a smart greengrocer and deli that whizzes up that most Californian of things, green juice.
Meanwhile, hidden away in a small, unassuming shopping centre near the train station, Hal Cafe 229 focuses on vegan, gluten-free and macrobiotic desserts (think soy yoghurt parfait and kabocha squash ice cream with red beans), while hiding in a residential part of town, Biotecca uses locally grown produce for the Italian dishes it serves alongside biodynamic wine.
On my way back, I pass numerous surf shop and boutiques selling Hawaiian-style shirts, before I come to Dandelion Chocolate, a genuine Californian export just next to the train station. With its original outlet in San Francisco, this is one of a handful of branches in Japan, the shelves stacked with great slabs of its bean-to-bar product. After trying a few samples, I order a hot chocolate from one of the hipster staff, and take it upstairs to join the stylishly dressed girls taking selfies and Instagramming their brownies. The hot chocolate isn't cheap (around £7, if you're asking) but it is the best I've ever tasted – incredibly rich and creamy. I'll take it over green juice any day.
Travel essentials
Getting there
ANA flies from Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda from £631.
Staying there
WeBase Kamakura offers dorm beds from 3,800 yen (£27) and private doubles from 9,600 yen (£69), B&B.
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